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Drag as a Personal Phenomenon
Drag is a phenomenon that is associated with men behaving or acting in a way that portrays a lot of feminism. This behavior is commonly associated and expressed by way of dressing in feminine nature. As a way of expression, people considered to perform drag and the associated behavior do so as a result of their personal desire. This means that their motivation is based on their personal perspectives and practices that differentiate them from the normal practices. While men are commonly known to be performers of drag and related practices, women also have the tendency of behaving in a masculine way. The discussion in this paper will illustrate that personal reasons are the main factors that lead to drag.
As a manifestation of gender non-conformity, drag shows the extent at which people can behave to portray their unconventionality of their gender situation. Even though the drag behavior is gender non-conformity, it is expressed in personal behavior that communicates more about the person rather than the gender (Lester, 2002). It is therefore not exhaustive to express drag as completely a gender non-conformity phenomenon. Instead, it has personal input in the expression of the behavior. This means that drag is a personal way of expressing behavior or practice that reflects elements of gender non-conformity. It is a personal phenomenon for those who are referred to be drag queens tend to do so with complete consciousness of their behavior.
Men are commonly associated with the performance of drag since they are the most conventional gender that the females. By being conventional, it means that they are the gender that is not known of copying or practicing the behavior of the other gender. This makes any unconventional behavior by a male, to be suspicious, especially in the public domain. However, the decision of making such behavior is done at the personal level and not just the public style of behavior. For instance, it is not the public decision on the behavior that constitutes drag, instead, it is a collection of behavior and dressing by different people that leads to the conclusion of drag.
This is because the behavior of individuals is what constitutes the trend of behavior, especially in relation to gender. The associations of all the behaviors of the people that carry the practice lead to the general expression of the behavior, especially when compared with the gender expectations. This means that drag is not just non-conformity to gender, but a trend that is created by the behavior of people. The main motivation behind the behavior is personal expression. The trend in turn leads to a point of attraction for people to identify with. This means that individuals may practice drag as a way of identifying with others who practice the same. For instance, a young man will wear like a lady, not because he likes it, but as a way of identifying with a larger group of peers that do the same.
As a personal expression, drag does not only involve males impersonating the feminine character or behavior, it involves an internal need for social identity. Drag queens dress with exaggerated or abnormal feminist as a way of seeking identity. Drag is a personal reason and for a personal benefit to find an identity. However, their identity finds no match to the conventional identity of both genders. Due to the personal desires of seeking identity and recognition, most drag queens find an identity as a reason for exposing their extremism in terms of gender. This explains why drag queens slightly different in terms of culture, gender, regions and age.
As a personal practice that takes individual reasons to express themselves as drag queens, drag can be situational or long-term. The time that the drag queens practice or perform drag varies with the personal purpose and desires. This is because different drag queens portray different performances of behavior at different aspects. Some show their drag characteristics to identify with just a situation, as a way of expressing an inclination to a group, and later behave in normally. For instance, some males may dress in feminine nature to attend an event that they want to identify with. At the same time, some males may take the perspectives of a group and continue dressing in the same way for a long time, which may end up into a persistent character.
In conclusion, drag is a manifestation of a person’s non-conformity to gender as expected by the society. However, drag is a result of individual actions or behaviors as the drag queens seek to express their selves. Being a drag starts with individual desires, leading to a trend that forms publicly recognized features that define the unconventional phenomenon. In addition, drag is a phenomenon that exists out of individual desire to find an identity despite the gender of time of practice. Moreover, drag is also a situational or a long-term phenomenon depending on the purpose and the reasons for a person taking identity in drag. This illustrates that drag is based on personal reasons.
Reference
Lester, P. (2002). Gender Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality: Charting the Connections.
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press